Shopping Alert! French / London Sole Factory Shop Visit

November 5, 20138 Comments

Is there anything more delicious than a factory store dedicated to your favourite brand (and, of course, I must mention, a brand worn by the Duchess of Cambridge herself!)? I don’t think so! You might remember I visited the French Sole warehouse sale last October, and came away with five pairs of gorgeous shoes. So, when I heard that there was to be a permanent factory shop, I made plans to visit as soon as I possibly could. I was skeptical that it would be as cheap as the warehouse sale – because, why would it be, when it’s a permanent installation? – but it turned out to be even better than I hoped!

The French Sole warehouse shop might look unassuming from the outside, but inside it’s a bargain boutique that looks amazing, and is full of drop dead gorgeous shoes at rock bottom prices. You can purchase a pair of metallic silver or gold fold up flats for £10, and the bargain bins are full of sample shoes priced at £20 (but these are mostly 37s, I believe). The shoes on display are just £25 each, and boots cost £40! At the warehouse sale, flats were £20 and quilted flats were £40, so I think, on balance, the shop is cheaper by far. With these crazy prices, no wonder I came away with a couple of amazing pairs! Okay, maybe more than a couple… Maybe six…

I’ll be revealing my gorgeous purchases one by one over the following weeks – I’m calling them my ‘holiday collection’, because I came away with sequins, velvet, lush green, vibrant red, bows and jewels! Here’s a small sneak peek:

The French Sole factory store is open every Friday from 10am to 4.30pm at Lambs Farm Business Park, Basingstoke Road, Swallowfield, RG7 1PQ. They get fresh deliveries every week, and carry end of lines, discounted styles, press samples, factory samples, and catwalk shoes. They also carry London Sole shoes, which is the company’s name in the US, so don’t be put off if you pick up a London Sole pair – they’re the same shoes, same company, just a different name! The shop takes cash or card. And, there’s a very nice farm shop just up the road where you can have lunch if the fancy takes you – or if you want to make a day of it, pop into Reading city centre, which isn’t far at all!

Some small words of caution: you really need to visit this store in person to try these shoes on properly, unless you have a twin sister with the same sized feet as you – who somehow has such sisterly love for you that she’ll sacrifice up her bargains to pass along (I don’t think so… Am I right, girls? Ha!). I came away with shoes in sizes 39, 39.5, 40 and 40.5. French Sole shoe sizes vary from model to model, and with factory samples, you can never be 100% confident with your usual size until you put them on! I truly don’t think you’d save money trying to get someone to pick some up for you, as £25 is only a bargain if the shoes actually fit… Also, there are no exchanges, returns or refunds, as this is a factory store (this is very common policy for these kind of discount shops).

All of this information was correct at time of writing, but I can’t guarantee that the prices or opening hours will remain the same – if you have any doubts, contact info@frenchsole.com for help!

Jillian Michaels’ Body Revolution Kickstart, Days 1-2

March 24, 20132 Comments

It’s the end of the second day of Jillian’s seven day kickstart to the Body Revolution, and I am really, really tired. I cheated and jump started the workouts on Wednesday, when I got my kit through, but I had to wait until Friday to get all my groceries. So, I decided to do an extra couple of days of doubled-up exercise before I actually began the programme, and I’m really feeling it today – my fourth day of hour-long exercises. I did not want to get up today, but I did, because I had to go into town with my parents to help my mum pick out some new clothes. Then, I got back and did workout 2 and cardio 1. I have to do them back to back, otherwise there’s just no psyching me up for it! I was totally prepared to half ass it, but Jillian managed to shout me out of that idea, and I gave it as much as I had.

So, that’s where I am with exercises – I thought it was a bit of a pushover at the start, to be honest, but now I’m rethinking slightly! I think a lot of Jillian ‘veterans’ find the first couple of workouts to be fairly easy, but I know she’ll be stepping it up a notch towards the end of this month. I was particularly unhappy to hear the phrase ‘jump lunges’ – probably my least favourite exercise bar cardio in plank (mountain climbers and the like!).

Food wise, it’s going really well actually. I started off on Friday with some delicious bacon, eggs, tomatoes and… avocado…

Jillian demands nitrate free bacon, so that’s what I got. Very expensive, and thick cut too. I much prefer thin cut bacon, but weirdly it seems like the more expensive the bacon, the thicker the cut. I’d happily pay for thin cut fancy bacon but you can never seem to find it! This was hard enough to find anyway, I had to search through all the product details to find one that’s nitrate free. An unfortunate side effect of this is that the bacon comes out slightly grey when you cook it – the pinkness is mostly due to the addition of nitrates.

Still, I’d eat it… wouldn’t you? I added some delicious lemon pepper that we bought on holiday in Cornwall last year. I knew that would come in handy! I wasn’t just buying it willy nilly, promise!

Even though there’s not really much reason to do this, I’ve been logging my calories with MyFitnessPal as well as following the diet. I was fairly concerned when my breakfast came up as 343 calories, rather than the 269 calories it was listed as. Yikes! Luckily, it seems as though the rest of the recipes come in way under the estimates given… Or at least, my versions do!
Lunch was the grilled salmon citrus salad – loved this. I really love salmon!

I probably shouldn’t have, as sodium is a bloater if ever there was one, but I used a simple Japanese recipe to perk this up and really bring out the flavour of the fish. I salted it 15 minutes before eating, then right before cooking, just wiped the salt away, and grilled it. The flavour is amazing.

I have to confess, I slightly overcooked this, so I’ll keep the cooking time to a minimum the next time I make it! It came in at just 184 calories, which is amazing – and I felt full until dinner. Well, the story there is that I didn’t get to eat breakfast until 1pm, so lunch was at 5… Let’s say, I broke Jillian’s ‘no eating after 9pm’ rule right out of the gate, and I also managed to end up eating my snack *after* dinner. I only have myself to blame! I had an epic cleaning session with my mum on the Friday morning, so I just didn’t eat until late. Oh well – you can’t always control the circumstances, but you can control the damage, right? Right!
Dinner was more fish, this time, tilapia!

I really like fish, and capers, and rosemary… So this was delicious! The rocket was pretty ropey, though – wild stuff from Ocado, it was absolutely full of insects and had to be washed several times and picked over leaf by leaf before I was happy to eat it. I wasn’t so crazy about having to do this, but there was no way I was chucking it all out!

It came with the now-familiar salad with dressing and tomatoes – something makes me think I’ll be sick of lettuce by the end of the week! I tried to buy plenty of varieties, so let’s hope I can stave off the boredom. I also bought Waitrose’s low fat essential vinaigrette, which I quite like, and some low-fat Caesar dressing (in place of Ranch, which really isn’t common in the UK) for the Chef’s Salad later in the week. Again, the calorie count for this was much lower than was listed, at just 184 calories. Then, after that, I had my snack of hummus and veggies.
I am cheating somewhat here, because I just can’t give up tea. I have milk in it, which amounts to a serving of dairy, which on the days where I also have yogurt, is not recommended in the plan. I also have a couple of sugars and some sweetner along the way… GASP! No one’s perfect. That’s right, not even me – I just seem perfect. Big distinction! Needless to say, any failures as a result of this are squarely on me. No one can say I wasn’t warned. I am prepared to face the consequences of my tea drinking like a true Englishwoman – with a stiff upper lip!
Today was Saturday – I cheated again a little bit with my breakfast and had the Greek yogurt, cinnamon and almonds – WITH HONEY! Yes, a teaspoon of honey. I’m so sorry… No, I’m not, because sour Greek yogurt actually makes me feel a tiny bit sick, and I can’t eat bacon and smoked salmon all week long, as much as I’d love to.
Lunch had to be out, because I was in town all day, but luckily, Pret a Manger came to my rescue with their tuna salad, a fair substitute for the Chef’s Salad:

It does help that I *love* this salad, and it’s only about 315 calories with the dressing included.
Now, another confession – I had a cappuccino when I was out. I counted this as my snack, does that make you happy? I sure hope so, because by the time I got home I was starving and exhausted, but I had to grit my teeth, knuckle down, and exercise until I felt like I was going to black out. It was 8pm before I ate, but if that’s okay with Jillian, then I’m counting it as a minor victory. It did help that dinner was steak.

Mmm, steak! I put steak seasoning on some sirloin and fried it with cooking spray. I’m not grilling a steak in our grill – it’s a pathetic, fake grill and I only honour steak with the mightiest of kitchen utensils – the frying pan. The salad of tomatoes and olives was delicious, and the spinach was pretty good too. Although the recipe title says it comes with wilted spinach, the recipe itself doesn’t really get you to wilt the leaves (other than with the heat of the steak sitting on top), so I took the liberty of wilting them in the pan while the steak was resting. Calorie count: 299 calories.
So, two days down. I’m definitely missing puddings and Coca Cola Zero, although I’m not missing carbs that much. I could eat some fries and bread, but I’m not going to kill my cat to get them. I can’t believe how satisfied I’ve felt just eating various types of salad and a protein portion every meal, it’s really eye-opening. Having the recipes has definitely helped me stay on track in that respect, but then it’s still early in the process and I’ve not had to repeat any meals yet… So, we’ll see! But so far, other than my weary body and aching muscles, I’m feeling very positive and motivated to continue!

Jillian Michaels’ Body Revolution: Preview

March 21, 2013Leave a comment

I finally ordered Jillian Michaels’ Body Revolution! I’ve been hankering after this for a long time, and I’m so pleased that I finally got around to getting it. It’s very pricey compared to Jillian’s other products (at £99), but I think it’s a worthwhile investment…

The programme lasts for 90 days, and contains 12 different weight workouts and three cardio workouts. The reason I was keen to try this particular programme is that it alternates muscle groups – something which Jillian’s other DVDs don’t do. The idea is that you work one group of muscles, and then give them time to rest so that they can rebuild stronger. As I understand it, when you lift weights, you create tiny tears in your muscles, and it’s the rebuilding process, when your body repairs itself, that actually makes your muscles stronger. With more intensive workouts like the 30 Day Shred, you don’t stop to rest between working out groups. I hope that the Body Revolution actually tones my muscles more than I’ve experienced in the past – but first of all, of course, I need to do the workouts first!

The kit comes with three cardboard sleeves, pictured above, which have the DVD collection inside. There are also various booklets that go with it, including a meal guide for her 7-day kickstart programme.

Inside are a range of meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for you to eat during a week-long period at the start. Jillian is very clear that you only do this once during the 90 days, as the diet is restrictive, and the exercise schedule is pretty intensive.

This is the diet plan I’ll be starting tomorrow, along with the exercise plan. I’m waiting for my shopping to arrive! I’ve bought items to make most of the things listed – the recipes are in the back of the book – so we’ll see how I go from tomorrow… The hardest thing will be avoiding tempting Easter treats! The recipes aren’t low in calories, but I do think they’re very low in carbohydrates. Hopefully there’s enough protein in there to keep me going!

Here’s the workout plan for the first week – I’ve cheated a little bit and I already started yesterday, doing cardio 1 and workout 1. But I aim to start properly tomorrow and then work through until next Friday. Over the weekend I’ll perhaps do cardio again and rest on Sunday, so that I can then start Phase One as it should be on the Monday after Easter.

Here’s what the first month of work outs looks like:

As you can see, it follows a neat pattern which is pretty easy to understand! I really want to make sure I start it on a Monday, because having a real, set in stone schedule is very important to my ability to stick to it. I think that if I alter the schedule in some way, I’ll start making excuses as to why I can put off doing one of the work outs, so I want to eliminate that risk before I even start! Anyway, each block of exercise is approx 30 minutes, which really isn’t a lot to ask in a day!